Misano: Ten Kate Honda Supersport Saturday report

Foret has the pole position habit.
Fabien Foret withstood temperatures in the upper thirties to take his third
pole position in three races here at Misano today.
While other riders wilted in the heat or suffered from bike problems, Foret
kept...

Foret has the pole position habit.

Fabien Foret withstood temperatures in the upper thirties to take his third
pole position in three races here at Misano today.

While other riders wilted in the heat or suffered from bike problems, Foret
kept his cool to head the pack again. "I could have gone faster still," said
Foret, "but there were no other riders putting pressure on me so I didn't
see the point of pushing even harder in this heat. But my bike feels great,
I have a very good race set up and am confident that my Pirelli tyres and WP
Suspension can cope with the extreme conditions."

His team mate Iain MacPherson dropped down the order late in the session to
finish ninth on the grid after a freak incident. MacPherson banged his knee
so hard on the kerb while running a fast lap late in the session that he
found he couldn't shift gear. "I ran off the track and then just sat on my
bike trying to let the pain pass," explained MacPherson. Doctors trackside
thought he was suffering from heat exhaustion and hussled him onto a
stretcher. MacPherson, who is from Scotland, couldn't make his real
predicament understood until he arrived back at the medical centre. By the
time he was released, the session was over.

Team Manager Ronald ten Kate was happy again to see one of his riders in
pole position. "The problem at Misano is very specific heat! We're
spending a lot of time and effort on keeping the riders cool with ice and
fans and the bikes cool with blowers."

He was also full of praise for the Honda CBR600FS, "This bike is cool,
literally! The race tomorrow will be very hard on bikes, tyres and riders,
but I am confident we have the best combination of all three."